Latest Developments in Ukraine: July 11

2022-07-11 16:07:43 By : Mr. Gavin bai

For full coverage of the crisis in Ukraine, visit Flashpoint Ukraine.

The latest developments in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. All times EDT:

11:19 a.m: Lithuania has widened restrictions on trade through its territory from Russia to the Russian Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad, including a ban on concrete, wood, alcohol, and alcohol-based industrial chemicals, RFE/RL reported.

A spokesperson for Lithuanian customs told Reuters that the move was a result of the phase-ins on earlier announced European Union sanctions against Moscow taking effect. Vilnius shut the route for transport of steel and other ferrous metals, which it said it was required to do under EU sanctions that took effect on June 18.

The EU imposed the punitive measures on Russia after it launched its ongoing invasion of Ukraine on February 24.

9:17 a.m.: Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree on expanding a fast track to Russian citizenship to all Ukrainians, according to state media.

Previously only residents of Ukraine's eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions, as well as residents of the southern Zaporizhzhia and the Kherson regions, were eligible for the simplified procedure, Tass news agency reported.

8:49 a.m.: Ukrainian officials say the death toll from Russian rocket attack that hit an apartment block in eastern Ukraine on Saturday has now risen to at least 24.

Officials fear dozens of people could still be trapped in the rubble of the five-story apartment building in the Donetsk town of Chasiv Yar, according to RFE/RL.

Earlier, Donetsk regional Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said on Telegram that at least 30 others “are under the rubble" of the building after it was hit by a Russian Uragan missile. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the attack represented another potential war crime by the Russia forces. Russia has denied targeting civilians.

6:15 a.m.: Austrian oil and gas company OMV said on Monday it is receiving roughly 70% less natural gas than it ordered after the biggest pipeline carrying Russian gas to Germany began annual maintenance, reducing flows to Europe.

A spokesman for OMV confirmed a figure first reported by Austrian news agency APA, Reuters reported. Austria relies heavily on Russia for gas, obtaining about 80% of its supply from that one country. Russian deliveries have recently been between roughly half and 60% of agreed volumes.

5:45 a.m.: Russian missiles pounded Ukraine’s second-largest city early on Monday, local administrator said, The Associated Press reported.

Governor of the Kharkiv region Oleh Syneihubov said on Telegram that the Russian forces only hit civilian targets in three missile strikes on the northeastern city.

One of the missiles destroyed a school, another a residential building while the third landed near warehouse facilities, said Syneihubov. He said latest reports were that three people died and 28 were wounded in the attacks.

5:30 a.m.: Italy’s Eni, a Rome-based multinational oil and gas company, said Monday Russia’s Gazprom was reducing gas supply as routine maintenance on its Nord Stream 1 pipeline started.

5 a.m.: Ukrainian forces have recaptured the village of Ivanivka in the southern Russian-occupied region of Kherson, a Ukrainian infantry brigade said on Monday.

"The only thing left of the Russian occupiers in Ivanivka are horrible memories and 'dead' military equipment," it said.

Reuters could not immediately confirm the claim. There is more than one village of Ivanivka in the area. One of them is located along the front line.

4:30 a.m.: The governor of Russia’s Kaliningrad region proposed a total ban on the movement of goods between the three Baltic states and Russia Monday, in response to what authorities in the exclave have called a "blockade" of it by Lithuania, according to Reuters.

"As a reciprocal measure we propose to completely prohibit the movement of goods (including those in transit from third countries) between the three Baltic States and Russia," Governor Anton Alikhanov said.

The Kaliningrad region would be excepted from the ban, he added.

Lithuania on Monday expanded restrictions on trade through its territory to the exclave, as phase-ins of earlier-announced European Union sanctions against Moscow took effect.

4:15 a.m.: The death toll from a Russian rocket attack that hit an apartment block in eastern Ukraine over the weekend rose to 18 on Monday and rescuers were still racing to reach survivors in the rubble, the emergency services said.

Rescuers were in voice contact with two people trapped in the ruins of the five-story block in the town of Chasiv Yar in Donetsk region that was struck late on Saturday, Reuters reported citing Ukraine’s emergency services.

"As of 08:45 on July 11, ... 18 people were killed, 6 people were rescued from the rubble, about 137 tons of rubble were cleared...," it said.

3 a.m.: A Lithuanian customs spokesperson said Monday that the country has expanded restrictions on trade through its territory to Russia’s Kaliningrad exclave, as phase-ins on earlier announced European Union sanctions set in.

Goods sanctioned from Monday morning include concrete, wood, alcohol and alcohol-based industrial chemicals, Reuters reported citing the spokesperson.

2:30 a.m.: The biggest single pipeline carrying Russian gas to Germany started annual maintenance on Monday, with flows expected to stop for ten days, but governments, markets and companies are worried the shutdown might be extended due to war in Ukraine, Reuters reported.

The Nord Stream 1 pipeline transports 55 billion cubic meters a year of gas from Russia to Germany under the Baltic Sea. Maintenance lasts from July 11 to 21.

Last month, Russia cut flows to 40% of the pipeline’s total capacity, citing the delayed return of equipment being serviced by Germany's Siemens Energy, in Canada. Canada said at the weekend it would return a repaired turbine, but it also said it would expand sanctions against Russia's energy sector.

Europe fears Russia may extend the scheduled maintenance to restrict European gas supply further, throwing plans to fill storage for winter into disarray and heightening a gas crisis that has prompted emergency measures from governments and painfully high bills for consumers.

2 a.m.: Donetsk regional Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said on the Telegram messaging service that a Russian missile had struck Druzhkivka, a town behind the front line, and reported shelling of other population centers, Reuters reported.

As war rages on, Ukrainian officials accuse Russia of targeting civilians.

1:20 a.m.: Since Russia invaded Ukraine in late February, more than 7.4 million people have fled the country into the European Union, according to data shared by the European Commission, the executive of the EU.

1:15 a.m.: The U.K. defense ministry said Monday that warring parties haven’t made territorial gains in Ukraine over the weekend.

"As of Sunday 10 July, Russian artillery bombardments continued in the northern Donbas sector, but probably without any major territorial advances," the ministry said. "Ukrainian forces continued to apply localised pressure to the Russian defensive line in north-east Kherson oblast, also probably without achieving territorial gain."

12:01 a.m.: Rescuers picked through the rubble of an apartment building in eastern Ukraine searching for two dozen people, including a child, feared trapped after a Russian rocket strike on the five-story building killed 15 people, Reuters reported.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiyy’s chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, said the attack in the town of Chasiv Yar in the Donetsk region was "another terrorist attack" and Russia should be designated as a state sponsor of terrorism.

Rescuers used a crane to lift a concrete slab and their hands to dig through the debris on Sunday, while dazed residents who survived the Saturday evening attack retrieved personal belongings and told stories of their miraculous escape.

Russian President Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine on February 24, calling it a "special military operation" to demilitarize Ukraine and rid it of nationalists.

Ukraine and its Western allies say Putin’s war is an imperial land grab and has accused his forces of war crimes. Moscow denies attacking civilians.

The biggest conflict in Europe since World War II has killed thousands, left cities and towns in ruins, and seen more than 5.5 million Ukrainians flee their country.

Some information in this report came from The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse.